Chapter Text
2 months.
It’s been exactly two months since Sara and Shin started dating, she’s kept close count.
If asked, she would’ve loved to say those 2 months have been nothing short of perfect. To think the cute guy she had been crushing on for over a year returned her feelings, anybody would be over the moon if they were in her shoes, right?
Wrong.
You see, there’s been a problem bugging their relationship and it’s not their age gap (though Sara suspects Shin might still find that part of their dynamic a little troubling). Putting that aside, the bone Sara has to pick with isn’t regarding her boyfriend’s character, no. It was about the character of an individual that’s been stuck to them like a leech.
Sou Hiyori. Shin’s roommate.
She didn’t think much of him at the start, believing that he’s just another wacky tech guy with interesting fashion choices trying to get by in their big city. The first time they met, Sara was trying to score girlfriend points by delivering warm vegetable soup to her sickness-prone boyfriend. Before, Shin was adamant in keeping her far, far away from where he lived and vice-versa. Believing that they should set some thick boundaries given how Sara was still a high-schooler.
However, Sara, being the young girl in love like she was, couldn’t help but feel concerned hearing her lover’s strained voice over the phone. Not to mention, she terribly missed their normal routine of her visiting him at the convenience store he worked at after school everyday. That, topped with the encouragement from her overly supportive friends who were just as hard-headed as her, made the girl convince herself that it was only right she paid Shin a visit.
She’s no doctor, but perhaps a little moral boost could help him feel a little better, is how she reasoned her actions. So with a little prodding, heavy emphasis on the ‘little’ , Sara succeeded at getting Shin’s address from his coworker.
By recruiting the help of her oblivious housekeeper, Kai, Sara was able to concoct a delicious vegetable soup she knew the young man would like. Obviously, a home cooked meal full of love and care can never be beat! Especially not by the instant ones that come in to-go containers from the store her boyfriend liked so much. After brushing off Kai’s inquiries on her sudden interest in cooking for the 11th time by selling out Joe and Ryoko’s names, the teenager eagerly made her way to Shin’s apartment.
Equipped with a thermos filled with the homemade vegetable soup and a sizable container of steamed white rice in her tote bag, the girl marches into the apartment complex like a soldier on a mission. Her boyfriend’s apartment room number was already memorised in her head, the girl recalls it over and over again as she walks to ensure she doesn’t forget it.
Standing face to face with his door, she swallows the nervous jitters built up in her throat and lands 3 solid knocks on the wood. She hears shuffling from the other side as a response, then what sounded like a confused groan before finally, she hears Shin’s voice responding. His words come out a little mumbled, leading the girl to believe she must’ve woken him up from a nap.
“Hiyori?” he asks, making the girl tilt her head in wonder.
Hiyori? Was that his roommate? He has mentioned having one in passing before.
To this, Sara keeps quiet, not wanting the young man to realise it was her and shoo her away without them even seeing each other.
“Hiyori, is that you? Did you leave your keys again?” Once again, no response.
Annoyed, the young man finally approaches his door and opens it, not bothering to look into the peephole beforehand. His heart nearly leaps out of his chest seeing his girlfriend instead of his roomie at the door. “S-Sara?!” he croaks, face twisting into a grimace. Both at the teenager’s unannounced visit and at how embarrassing his sick voice sounded just now. Once again, he’s made a complete fool of himself in front of his cool girlfriend.
Sara doesn’t notice and instead, tries her best to keep her eyes on his face, fighting the urge to let them wander to the young man’s bare neck, a view she hasn’t seen yet prior to this. The strings of his key necklace peep at her from under the collar of his beige cotton shirt, making it harder for the girl to pretend like she was paying attention to what Shin was saying.
“Sara, c’mon. What are you doing here? How did you even figure out this was my apartment?” he repeats, his question getting lost the first time he asked.
Realising Shin was in pain trying to talk to her with his sore throat, the girl snaps out of her tom-foolery. “I came here cause I was worried about you, it’s been almost two weeks and your cold still isn’t going away,”
Brushing some of her hair back behind her ear, she continues. “Your coworker told me where you lived so I thought a little visit wouldn’t hurt,”
She then motions her tote bag towards the teal-haired man. “I made you something, it might help,” she smiles, deeply hoping the young man would accept the fruit of her hard work. In return, she sees his face melt into a thankful smile, however, the troubled look in his eyes faintly remains, making the girl suspicious. Keeping her mouth closed, she lets Shin take the bag off of her hands and observe the food she brought.
“Vegetable soup?” he questions, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards after taking a whiff of the contents within the thermos.
“Made it myself,” Sara says sheepishly, clasping her hands behind her back. She wanted more than anything to watch Shin eat her cooking, for him to eat every bite with a smile and praise her for her efforts.
“T-thanks… you went through all that trouble for me,” Shin responds, equally sheepish. For a moment, the couple just stands there, unsure of what to say. If it were any other time, Sara probably would’ve just barged into his apartment with zero shame. But given that her boyfriend was sick, she felt like it was best to go easy on him… for now.
“Well, uh… I better get going now,”.
It seemed Shin was taken aback by this, not expecting her to leave so soon. “Oh– oh yeah. Yeah, I mean my roommate’s probably gonna get back soon so…”
“Yeah…”
“Yeah…”
“...”
“Get well soon, Shin. The convenience store is boring without you,” Sara chuckles.
Shin playfully rolls his eyes “You want me to get better just so I can go back to work? You’re cruel, Miss Sara ,” he teases.
Hearing him call her by that old nickname again, she huffs while smirking. “Ugh, not this again,”
She crossed her arms and started taking tiny steps backwards away from the door, looking at Shin in the eyes. “I want you to get better cause I miss ya’, Tsukimi .” she teases. “You better eat up, okay? I’ll get mad if you don’t lick that thermos clean—,”
Just then, Sara feels her back collide with something, to be more precise, someone . Before she could turn around and apologise to them, she feels a shadow loom over her, as if a dark cloud had suddenly manifested right above her head.
“Oh, my. Who is this? I never took you as the type to be inviting girls over, Shin,” the person says. Perhaps it was the way he spoke or maybe just how his voice sounded, but Sara felt goosebumps crawling up her neck.
Still in the same position, the teenager hesitantly strains her neck upwards to look at the person’s face, only to be met with an unsettling smile and empty eyes staring into hers. “Hello, miss~ Does Shinnie here perhaps owe you money?”
The girl stiffened and quickly took a couple steps away to grow some distance between her and the man. ‘I-Is this Shin’s roommate?’
Just as Sara thought that, she hears her boyfriend’s voice acknowledge the mystery man. “Hiyori! You’re… back early,” he says nervously.
The man, who Sara now knows as ‘Hiyori’ , just smiles in response. “Yup! It was a quick day at work,” he beams. “But more importantly…”
Sara then watched his eyes lock back on to hers. At that moment, the teenager felt as if her feet were glued into place as she saw Hiyori take long strides towards her direction. In less than 2 seconds, he was already all up in her face, bent down a little to meet her eye-to-eye.
“What’s a pretty girl like you doing involving yourself with Shin? Were you scammed by him or something?”
Overwhelmed by his intensity, Sara was hesitant to respond. It was only when Shin squeezed himself between them, hiding her behind his back, did she finally snap out of her daze.
“Hiyori, you’re making her uncomfortable!”
“Am I? Sorry, miss~ I’m just excited! It’s not everyday Shin has somebody over. It’s not even ever !” he laughs, mocking Shin’s lack of a social life. From behind, Sara could see the tips of Shin’s ears grow red. Clearly, he was embarrassed.
Finally having enough of just standing around, the teen decides to speak up. “It’s alright and no, he didn’t scam me,” she shook her head. Walking out from behind the teal-haired man’s back, Sara confidently stood beside him instead and squared her shoulders. “I’m his girlfriend,”. Through the corner of her eye, she sees her boyfriend flinch and his eyebrows shooting upwards in surprise. “Sara–”
Not paying him any mind, she continues with her introduction and gives Hiyori a polite bow. “Sorry to intrude. I just wanted to quickly drop by and hand him some things,”
She pulls herself up from her bow and sees Hiyori’s face contorted into shock. “Girlfriend??” he questions, clearly taken aback.
“Yes,”
“Girlfriend, as in, a romantic partner? A hime-sama like you? With Shin?” he asks again, looking up and down at the couple. The corners of his mouth threaten to tug upwards, as if finding the prospect of somebody loving Shin humorous.
Irked at how this man was talking about Shin, she peppers in a tasteful amount of hostility in her voice. A sudden air of authority circled her as she spoke. “Mhm, is there a problem?”
Hiyori pauses before his face returns to a smile and he puts his hands up in defence. “Woah, there. I didn’t mean to offend you, miss. I was just surprised is all,”
“Right.”
“Hehe, to think Shinnie had a girlfriend this entire time and I knew nothing about it! I’m hurt!” Contrary to his words, the man’s smile remains while Shin nervously swallows a lump in his throat.
“I just never had the chance to, I guess,” the shorter of the two reasons. The young man reflexively attempts to grab at his signature blue scarf, before coming to the dreaded realisation that he wasn’t wearing it. This causes him to almost shrink back further into himself.
“Is that so?” the suited man hums, tilting his head. Sara was starting to grow uncomfortable with how hard he was staring at her, that, and how nervous Shin seemed to be in front of his roommate.
She clears her throat and turns to Shin. “Well, I’ll get out of your hair now,” she smiles and gently grabs his forearm. The man’s face grows pinkish in response but he does not make a move to pull away from her, causing the teenager to feel a hint of satisfaction at her effect over him. “Get well soon, alright?”
Shin glances at the ground for a second, feeling shy at eye-contact between them, before nodding, “Okay. Thanks again for the food by the way. And you better stay safe walking home,” he sterns.
The student chuckles, “Obviously,”
The moment would’ve been a lot more pleasant if it weren’t for the fact that both of the lovers could feel the third party’s burning stare at them
She then turns to the taller man, her smile growing just a little smaller looking at him. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you…” she trails off. Unsure of what to refer to him as.
“Sou Hiyori. And you’re Sara, right? Mind if I call you Miss Sara?” he asks, smile still present.
“It’s Sara Chidouin and no; that won’t be a problem,” she awkwardly answers.
Giving her boyfriend one last glance and saying she’ll text him once she reaches home, the teen bids her goodbyes to both men and makes her exit. Keenly aware of Sou Hiyori’s intense stare at her back.
About an hour or so later, after the teen arrived home and cleaned herself up, would she lay on her bed and review the events that transpired earlier at the apartment. She was glad to finally see her boyfriend’s face again after so long. With this, she had newfound energy to use in completing her biology assignment due at the end of the week.
Grabbing her phone off of the nightstand, she texts her boyfriend a quick update before chucking the device away again to go collect the required books for her homework. Pulling out her biology textbook, she stares at it for a moment before placing it on her study table. She takes a seat and observes the book for a little longer, its colour reminded her of the vibrant green hair and eyes her boyfriend’s roommate had.
She found him an odd fella to say the least. Just the way he talked and acted made Sara feel uncomfortable. Not to mention, how nervous Shin was in front of him. Sara hopes it’s not because of anything serious and that the two get along just fine. She would hate to find out her boyfriend was getting picked on by someone who lived under the same roof as him.
Pushing her concerns aside to focus on the task at hand, she silently hoped for Shin’s quick recovery and did not spare another thought at the eccentric roommate any further. Believing the times she’ll see him will be next to none in the forthcoming future. Little did she know, the teen would be seeing that weirdo more times than she’d ever want to from now on.